MARTÍN DE PORRES, Blessed. — Dominican lay brother, born in Lima on 9 Dec. 1579, died there on 3 Nov. 1639.
A negro mulatto, the Blessed M. was the son of a Spanish nobleman and a Mexican woman. At the age of fifteen he entered the convent of S. Rosario in Lima as a tertiary or “donato,” and was later accepted as a lay brother (1603). He was an example to his brethren for his profound humility and was revered by the people for his heroic charity toward the poor and the sick, for whom he built a small hospital. He was favored with special mystical graces (ecstasies and raptures), and many extraordinary events are recounted of him. He was beatified by Gregory XVI on 18 Aug. 1837, and the cause for his canonization is currently underway. Devotion to the Blessed M. is very lively in the Americas and among negro Catholics. His feast is celebrated on 5 Nov.